Non-vegan who believe themselves to be animal lovers

[Milake]

How do they ignore the obvious hypocrisy?
How do they live with the cognitive dissonance?

I am almost jealous of their ability to live in such a state that allows them to detach themselves from the reality of the consequences of their choices.

Bacon's super tasty. I also love my cat.

I love animals but if we didn’t rear them as a food source, there wouldn’t be as many of them. No one would keep & support herds if cows, flicks of sheep, etc, just for the pleasure of looking at them. Sure a few people would have a few but mist people wouldn’t be able to afford it.

I suppose it’s similar to people who believe that they care about human rights and children’s welfare yet buy phones and clothing etc. made by people/children in unacceptably inhumane conditions.

Flocks of sheep, not flicks!

I love animals, the way they look, their companionship, the way they taste.

It’s very hard to break the patterns you were raised in or recognise that something you have always done conflicts with your morals. I could objectively see that dairy was wrong before I stopped consuming it. It’s weird for me to think about now but something in my brain just excused my participation in the harm until eventually I just couldn’t any more.

But why does “the pleasure of looking at animals” justify harming individuals?

I think about this a lot. I think the difficulty with these is the lack of obvious alternatives. I’d be interested in how you deal with this- do you not own any such devices and buy clothing from somewhere where there were no inhumane conditions involved?

I don't believe myself to be an animal lover, I am an animal lover. I'm also a very committed carnivore and steak is my favourite food. I don't need to justify it to anyone, least of all a sneering vegan.

Absolutely this. Also people who believe they love children and bought lots of cheap chocolate Easter eggs despite the strong connection to child exploitation in the cocoa industry.

Same question I’d be interested in how you deal with this- do you not own any such devices and buy clothing from somewhere where there were no inhumane conditions involved? Genuinely would like to know!

If you’re happy in your decision and don’t want to justify it, why post on the vegan board about it? Of course you don’t need to justify it but do you genuinely think you love the young cow/ bull who was killed for you?

You are doing vegans no favours with this judgemental holier-than-thou attitude.

Humans are omnivores by nature.

It's it perfectly feasible to be an omnivore and also love animals.

I can guarantee you I do more for animals via various voluntary activities than the vast majority of Vegans or Vegetarians.
One of the most selfless animal rescuers I know, who has devoted her entire life to wildlife rescue eats meat.
Loving animals by solely not eating animal products is pretty easy and not as time consuming or heartbreaking as some of the things people who rescue do and a lot of us also eat meat etc

Animals raised for meat, are just that. You can still give them a good life, buy ethically, grass fed, free range, and admire their being whilst they are still alive, and then eat them and thank them for their being. This has been done for thousands of years and enabled man to thrive. It's part of many ancient tribes spirituality.

Other animals, not raised for meat, are different, and can be admired for their beauty, stealth and resilience, whilst also accepting that they too, often eat other animals.

I do what I can. Admittedly I have an iPhone, but I got a refurbished one which I feel is better than getting one brand new. I buy a lot of second hand clothing and try to buy things that are made in UK, Australia etc. Eg I have Frank Green water bottles. It’s not perfect but I do consider these things.

I’m not justifying eating meat, I’m just explaining my reasons behind not being vegan or vegetarian really. At the end of the day, I like the taste. I’ll sometimes choose a vegetarian option when I’m out but not for any altruistic reason. I just fancy it.

I understand your point of view but you will get a lot of flack stating it.
I have been veggie all my adult life. None of my friends are and they are all people with horses, dogs, cats.
I think people compartmentalise.
One friend who is a vet and loves her pets also keeps sheep to kill for meat. I find it strange that two of the sheep are pets but the others are for eating.
I accept they are well looked after whilst alive but I can never understand why some animals can be eaten and others not.
I don’t speak to my friends about my or their diets though. I think if people wanted to change they would. Me trying to persuade them would get nowhere.

But how do you love animals and also buy their dead body parts, creating a demand so that more are put into gas chambers and scream as they are gassed (pigs), or bred so that they cannot support their own body weight at weeks old and strung upside down and electrocuted (chickens), or the many more horrors perpetrated that I wouldn’t do to my worst enemy never mind someone I loved?

You must realise it's this kind of tedious sixth form level manicheism that gives vegans a bad name.

Yes I do those kinds of things too. Struggle with underwear/ tights/ socks which don’t tend to be in good condition (and not hygienic?) second hand. Obviously am vegan so doing what I can for animals too which is also not perfect.

I suppose because nature is inherently cruel and that is what we have evolved from. All carnivore and omnivore animals eat other animals and creatures.

Also, vegans are still responsible for the deaths of millions of creatures, there is no way to eat completely ethically. There were pesticides used to stop the crops you eat from being eaten first. Swathes of natural environments destroyed to make farms for vegans, so bye bye orangutans for palm oil. Avocados are farmed at huge personal cost to many people who were living there. Chocolate is well known for being produced with child slave labour. The transport implications, as vegan food with any level of protein tends to be grown abroad.

I think everyone just has to live with what they can afford and what their own personal morals support. It would be better if we could all eat local food, but that would consign us to mostly cabbages and potatoes for a lot of the year here!

Ex vegan (health issues caused by limited diet put an end to it unfortunately).

I found it really strange how some vegans have a problem with meat eaters saying they are animal lovers. I was of the opinion that at least they do their bit whether that's only earing a small amount of meat, caring for the local stray cat, supporting animal charities or being against animal cruelty however that looks to them.

It's a really odd thing for vegans to get upset about. Would you prefer meat eaters to say they arent animal lovers? To support dogs getting abused? Horses to be mistreated? For them to ignore the neighbourhood stray and let it die a horrific death because at least then they wouldnt be a hypocrit in your eyes?

Everyone's a hypocrit in some way. Everyone. Even you.

This is the vegan board, OP is asking other vegans. It is hard to understand the cognitive dissonance for us (albeit as above I do think I understand it at some level).

I wish I did!

I try not to buy new clothes unless I absolutely have to, and although I do have a phone I won't replace it until it dies on me. I have an Ethical Consumer subscription to nudge me in the right direction. But it is not possible to consume 100% ethically in today's world whether that relates to food consumption, clothing, transport choices or anything else so there is always a bit of compromise. I eat a lot of fresh vegetables and almost no meat but I am aware that undocumented migrants in Spain are exploited for our salad veg for example.